Treatment of rubber soles.



C LEE.

TREATMENT OF RUBBER SOLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. l2. l9l6.

Patented July 10, 1917.

WITNESS INVENTOR filyflrd Lee ATTORNE! 35 vention.

CLIFFORD 115E, F NAUGATUCK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOODYEAR/S METALLIC RUBBER til-E COMPANY, A CORBORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

TREATMENT OF RUBBER SOLES.

Application filed February 12, 1916. Serial No. 77,815.

To all whom it may concern: 1 Be it known that I, CLIFFORD LEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Naugatuck, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements inthe Treatment of Rubber Soles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in methods ofmanufacturing rubber soles.

lnthe manufacture of one type of rubber sole, rubber compound is sheeted by calender rolls and the sheet is then cut or stamped in the. desired shape to form the soles. F Such soles may be successfully vulcanized in unattached or free condition by subjecting them while in the vulcanizer to heat and fluid pressure, the latter 'iilmving or the formation of pores,

the like, in the rubber.

blisters @ne embodiment of the present invention sist-s in so treating soles of this type durthe above described method of vulcanion, that their interiors will be exhausted therefore a more compact product proui'ed. A further object contemplates the ini rinting of a desired design on the wear surface of such a sole.

The invention can be readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view through apparatus suitable for carrying out the m- Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of the device for maintaining the soles in flat condition during vulcanization in accordance with my approved process.

a In the practice of my invention I prefer to use soles of the calendered type, which briefly are produced as follows: The unvnlcanized rubber is compounded with the desired ingredients in the usual manner upon mixing rolls. It is then formed into a sheetby passing it between calender rolls. The sheet of rubber containing material thus formed is then cut or stamped by suitable tools to form the soles, one of which is shown at 10.

In carrying out my invention, soles constructed as above described are disposed in fiat, unattached. condition upon a rigid, flat table 11, which may be removably secured.

Specification of Letters Patent.

serving to prevent Patented Jaiyio, ieir.

within a vulcanizer 12, which preferably is pressure tight, by brackets 13. The table is formed with an interior chamber ll, which may be placed in communication with an exhaust pump throu h a valve controlled pipe entering the vu canizer, there being a coupling 16 in. the pipe to permit application and removal of the table.

The table 11 is provided at lo'calizedpoints ith communicating channels 17 which lead into ducts 18 that communicate with the chamber 14:. These channels preferably con stitute a complement of a design desired to be1 produced on the tread surface of each so e.

A fluid medium under pressure is admitted to the vulcanizer through a valve controlled pipe 19.

In practice, vulcanizer with their wear or tread surfaces in contact with the corresponding channeled parts of the table and with their attaching surfaces exposed. The fluid medium under pressure is admitted to the vulcanizer through the pipe 19, and presses the soles against the rigid, flat surface of the table, the latter resisting said pressure and maintaining the soles in flat condition. The subatmospheric pressure, exerted within the chamber 1 1 through the pipe 15 coacts with the prep'onderating pressure of the medium on the attaching surface of each sole to withdraw entrapped gases, fluids, moisture and the like from the interior of the sole, the same finding eas exit through the communicating channe s 17 and perforations 18 into the chamber.

' Heat may be admitted to the vulcanizer to vulcanize the soles, through radiator pipes 20, or the fluid medium itself may constitute a heat medium as well as a pressure the soles are placed in the medium if desired. Under heat, during the early stages of vulcanization, the rubber bethe materials described, and consider that all processes embodying the step of maintainmg soles in fiat, unattached condition, and wh le in said condition sub ect1ng them to a differential of pressure, falls within the scope of my invention.

By differential oi pressure, I mean pressure conditions, such that a greater pressure is met by a lesser pressure through the intervening material under treatment. 1

Having thus described my invention, what claim new and desire to protect by Let- .ers Patent is.

l. The'process of treating soles of rubber containing material consisting of maintaining the sole in fiat, unattached condition, and subjecting the sole to differential of pressure while in said condition.

2. The process of vulcanizing soies of rubber containing material consisting of maintaining the sole in flat, unattached condition, and subjecting the sole to heat and to a difierential of pressure While in said condition.

3. The prm of manufacturin soles consisting of sheeting rubber containing material, cuttin the sheet to'form soles, maintaining the so es in flat, unattached condition, and subjecting them to heat and to a difi'erential of pressure while in said condition.

4:. The process of giving final formation to .unvulcanized rubber soles consisting of maintaining the same in' flat, unattached condition with one surface in contact with a complement of a design desired on said sur face, and subjecting the sole to a diii'erential 'of pressure While in said flat, unattached condition.

Signed at Naugatuck, Connecticut, this 9th day of Feb, 1916. v

CLIFFORD LEE. 

